wings of fire by abdul kalam (1)

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WINGS OF FIREAn AutobiographyAVUL PAKIR JAINULABDEEN ABDUL KALAM has come to personally

represent to many of his countrymen the best aspects of Indian life. Born in

1931, the son of a little educated boatowner in Rameswaram, Tamilnadu, he hadan unparalleled career as a defence scientist, culminating in the highest civilian

award of India, the Bharat Ratna.

As chief of the countrys defence research and development programme, Kalam

demonstrated the great potential for dynamism and innovation that existed in

seemingly moribund research establishments. This is the story of Kalams rise

from obscurity and his personal and professional struggles, as well as the

story ofAgni, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul andNag - missiles that have become

household names in India and that have raised the nation to the level of amissile power of international recokoning.

At the same time as he has helped create Indias awesome weaponry, Kalam

has maintained the ascetic rigour of his personal life, working 18 hours a day

and practicing the veena. With characteristic modesty, Kalam ascribes the

greatness of his achievement to the influence of his teachers and mentors. He

describes the struggles of his boyhood and youth, bringing alive everyday life

in a small town in South India and the inspirational role of educators. He describes

the role of visionary Indian scientists, such as Dr Vikram Sarabhai, and of the

creation of a coordinated network of research institutions. This is also the saga

of independent Indias struggle for technological self sufficiency and defensive

autonomy a story as much about politics, domestic and international, as it is

about science.

Arun Tiwariworked under Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for over a decade in the

Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad. He is

currently Director, Cardiovascular Technology Institute, Hyderabad, where heis pursuing Dr Kalams vision of developing cost-effective medical devices

using indigenous defence technology.

Dr Kalam is now Indias President. He was elected to Indias office by a huge

majority in 2002.

V

Cover photograph: Courtesy The Week, a Malayala Manorama Publication

Picture by B Jayachandran

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WINGS OF FIREAn Autobiography

Universities Press

A P J Abdul Kalamwith Arun Tiwari

Universities Press (India) Private Limited

Registered Office

3-5-819 Hyderguda, Hyderabad 500 029 (A.P.), India

Distributed by

Orient Longman Private Limited

Registered Office

3-6-272 Himayatnagar, Hyderabad 500 029 (A.P.), India

Other Offices

Bangalore / Bhopal / Bhubaneshwar / Chandigarh /Chennai

Ernakulam / Guwahati / Hyderabad / Jaipur / Kolkata

Lucknow / Mumbai / New Delhi / Patna

Universities Press (India) Private Limited 1999

First published 1999

Eleventh impression 2002

ISBN 81 7371 146 1

Typeset by

OSDATA, Hyderabad 500 029

Printed at

Published by

Universities Press (India) Private Limited

3-5-819 Hyderguda,

Hyderabad 500 029

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Sea waves, golden sand, pilgrims faith,

Rameswaram Mosque Street, all merge into one,

My Mother!

You come to me like heavens caring arms.

I remember the war days when life was challenge and toil

Miles to walk, hours before sunrise,

Walking to take lessons from the saintly teacher near the temple.

Again miles to the Arab teaching school,

Climb sandy hills to Railway Station Road,

Collect, distribute newspapers to temple city citizens,

Few hours after sunrise, going to school.

Evening, business time before study at night.

All this pain of a young boy,

My Mother you transformed into pious strength

With kneeling and bowing five timesFor the Grace of the Almighty only, My Mother.

Your strong piety is your childrens strength,

You always shared your best with whoever needed the most,

You always gave, and gave with faith in Him.

I still remember the day when I was ten,

Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters

It was full moon night, my world only you knewMother! My Mother!

When at midnight I woke with tears falling on my knee

You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.

Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain

Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength

To face the world without fear and with His strength.

We will meet again on the great Judgement Day, My Mother!

To the memory of my parents

My Mother

APJ Abdul Kalam

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

ORIENTATION

CREATION

PROPITIATION

CONTEMPLATION

Epilogue

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IORIENTATION[ 1931 1963 ]

This earth is His, to Him belong those vast and boundlessskies;Both seas within Him rest, and yet in that small pool He lies.

ATHARVA VEDA

Book 4, Hymn 16.

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WINGS OF FIRE

5

ORIENTATION

Jallaluddin used to speak to me about the power of positive thinking

and I often recalled his words when I felt homesick or dejected. I tried

hard to do as he said, which was to strive to control my thoughts and my

mind and, through these, to influence my destiny. Ironically, that destiny

did not lead me back to Rameswaram, but rather, swept me farther

away from the home of my childhood.

* * * 2

Once I settled down at the Schwartz High School,

Ramanathapuram, the enthusiastic fifteen-year-old within

me re-emerged. My teacher, Iyadurai Solomon, was an ideal

guide for an eager young mind that was yet uncertain of the possibilities

and alternatives that lay before it. He made his students feel very

comfortable in class with his warm and open-minded attitude. He used

to say that a good student could learn more from a bad teacher than a

poor student from even a skilled teacher.

During my stay at Ramanathapuram, my relationship with him grew

beyond that of teacher and pupil. In his company, I learnt that one could

exercise enormous influence over the events of ones own life. Iyadurai

Solomon used to say, To succeed in life and achieve results, you must

understand and master three mighty forces desire, belief, and

expectation. Iyadurai Solomon, who later became a Reverend, taught

me that before anything I wanted could happen, I had to desire it intensely

and be absolutely certain it would happen. To take an example from my

own life, I had been fascinated by the mysteries of the sky and the flight

of birds from early childhood. I used to watch cranes and seagulls soar

into flight and longed to fly. Simple, provincial boy though I was, I was

convinced that one day I, too, would soar up into the skies. Indeed, I

was the first child from Rameswaram to fly.

Iyadurai Solomon was a great teacher because he instilled in all the

children a sense of their own worth. Solomon raised my self-esteem to

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WINGS OF FIRE

8

ORIENTATION

Plate 1 (a) My father Jainulabdeen was not formally educated, but was a man of greatwisdom and kindness. (b) Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, a close friend of my father and thehead priest of the Rameswaram Temple.

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ORIENTATION

Plate 2 The locality in which I grew up: (a) My house on Mosque Street. (b) Thousands of

pilgrims from great distances descend on the ancient temple of Lord Shiva. I often assistedmy brother Kasim Mohamed in his shop selling artifacts on this street.

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WINGS OF FIRE

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ORIENTATION

Plate 3 The old mosque in our locality where my father would take

me and my brothers every evening to offer prayers.

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ORIENTATION

Plate 4 My brother pointing at the TsquareI used while studyingengineering.

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ORIENTATION

Plate 5 STR Manickam (inset), a friend of my brother Mustafa Kamal, had a large collection of

books. This is his house, from where I would borrow books while at Rameswaram.

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ORIENTATION

Plate 6 A family get-together.

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ORIENTATION

Plate 7 The simple surroundings of Schwartz High School, Ramanathapuram.The words on the plaque read "Let not thy winged days be spent in vain. Whenonce gone no gold can buy them back again."

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ORIENTATION

Plate 8 My teachers at Schwartz High SchoolIyadurai Solomon (standing, left) and RamakrishnaIyer (sitting, right). They are the best examples of small-town Indian teachers committed to nurturing

talent.

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23

Rameswaram. My father was very pleased to learn about the opportunity

that had come my way. He took me to the mosque and organized a

special namaz in thanksgiving. I could feel the power of God flowing in

a circuit through my father to me and back to God; we were all under

the spell of the prayer.

One of the important functions of prayer, I believe, is to act as a

stimulus to creative ideas. Within the mind are all the resources required

for successful living. Ideas are present in the consciousness, which when

released and given scope to grow and take shape, can lead to successful

events. God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities,

great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us to tap and develop

these powers.Ahmed Jallaluddin and Samsuddin came to see me off at Bombay

airport. It was their first exposure to a big city like Bombay, just as I

myself was about to have my first exposure to a mega city like New

York. Jallaluddin and Samsuddin were self-reliant, positive, optimistic

men who undertook their work with the assurance of success. It is from

these two persons that I drew the core creative power of my mind. My

sentiments could not be contained, and I could feel the mist of tears in

my eyes. Then, Jallaluddin said, Azad, we have always loved you, andwe believe in you. We shall always be proud of you. The intensity and

purity of their faith in my capabilities broke my last defences, and tears

welled up in my eyes.

* * *

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IICREATION

[ 1963 1980 ]

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DREAMERS


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Rocketry was reborn in India thanks to the technological vision of

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Prof. Sarabhai took the challenge of

giving physical dimensions to this dream. Very many individuals with

myopic vision questioned the relevance of space activities in a newly

independent nation which was finding it difficult to feed its population.But neither Prime Minister Nehru nor Prof. Sarabhai had any ambiguity

of purpose. Their vision was very clear: if Indians were to play a

meaningful role in the community of nations, they must be second to

none in the application of advanced technologies to their real-life

problems. They had no intention of using it merely as a means to display

our might.

* * *

5Dreamers

During his frequent visits to Thumba, Prof. Sarabhai would

openly review the progress of work with the entire team.

He never gave directions. Rather, through a free exchange

of views, he led us forward into new terrain which often revealed an

unforeseen solution. Perhaps he was aware that though a particular

goal might be clear to himself, and he could give adequate directions forits accomplishment, his team members might have resisted working

towards a goal that made no sense to them. He considered the collective

understanding of the problem the main attribute of effective leadership.

He once told me, Look, my job is to make decisions; but it is equally

important to see to it that these decisions are accepted by my team

members.

In fact, Prof. Sarabhai took a series of decisions that were to become

the life-mission of many. We would make our own rockets, our ownSatellite Launch Vehicles (SLVs) and our own satellites. And this would

not be done one-by-one but concurrently, in a multi-dimensional fashion.

In the development of payloads for the sounding rockets, instead of

getting a certain payload and then engineering it to fit into the rocket, we

discussed the matter threadbare with the payload scientists working in

different organ-izations and at different locations. I may even say that

the most significant achievement of the sounding rocket programme

was to establish and maintain nation-wide mutual trust.

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by my bedside. What about going for lunch? he asked. I was deeply

touched by his affection and concern. I found out later that Dr Brahm

Prakash had come to my room twice before that but had gone away on

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Prakash had come to my room twice before that but had gone away on

finding me asleep. He had waited all that time for me to get up and have

lunch with him. I was sad, but not alone. The company of Dr BrahmPrakash filled me with a new confidence. He made light conversation

during the meal, carefully avoiding the SLV-3, but gently providing me

solace.

* * * 9Builders

Dr Brahm Prakash helped me endure this difficult period. In practice,

Dr Brahm Prakash employed the front-line damage control principle:

Just get the fellow home alive. Hell recover. He drew the entire SLV

team close and demonstrated to me that I was not alone in my sorrow at

the SLV-3s failure. All your comrades are standing by you, he said.This gave me vital emotional support, encouragement, and guidance.

A post-flight review conducted on 11 August 1979 was attended by

more than seventy scientists. A detailed technical appraisal of the failure

was completed. Later, the post-flight analysis committee headed by SK

Athithan pinpointed the reasons for the malfunction of the vehicle. It

was established that the mishap occurred because of the failure of the

second stage control system. No control force was available during the

second stage flight due to which the vehicle became aerodynamically

unstable, resulting in altitude and velocity loss. This caused the vehicle

to fall into the sea even before the other stages could ignite.

Further in-depth analysis of the second-stage failure identified the

reason as the draining of a good amount of Red Fuming Nitric Acid

(RFNA) used as the oxidizer for the fuel power at that stage.

Consequently, when the control force was demanded, only fuel was

injected resulting in zero force. A solenoid valve in the oxidizer tank

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IIIPROPITIATIONLet craft, ambition, spite,Be quenched in Reasons night,

Till weakness turn to might,

Till what is dark be light,

Till what is wrong be right!

Lewis Carroll

[ 1981 1991 ]

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SEEKERS


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Plate 9 The twin-engine indigenous hovercraft prototype Nandi developed atADE, Bangalore. As inventor and pilot, I took my rightful place at the controls.

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Plate 10 The Christian community in Thumba very graciouslygave up this beautiful Church to house the first unit of theSpace Research Centre.

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Plate 11 With Prof Vikram Sarabhai, a great visionary and the master planner behind India'sMissile Development programme, at Thumba

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Plate 12 Two gurus of Indian Space Research who mentored and gently guided the youngscientists Prof Satish Dhawan and Dr Brahm Prakash at one of the SLV-3 review meetings.

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Plate 13 A presentation by a member of my SLV-3 team. In an unusual move, I made each ofthem present their portion of the workmy idea of project management.

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Plate 14 Dr Brahm Prakash inspecting SLV-3 in its final phase of integration. He helpedme deal with subsequent frustrations in its launching and consoled me when I was atmy lowest ebb.

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Plate 15 Prof Satish Dhawan and I explaining SLV-3 results to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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Plate 16 SLV-3 on the launch pad. This gave

us many anxious moments!

Plate 17 Receiving the Padma Bushan from

Dr Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, then President ofIndia.

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Plate 18 Successful launch of Prithvi,the surface-to-surface weapons system. Plate 19 Agni on the launch pad,

my long-cherished dream.

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Plate 20 One of the cartoons in the mediaafter the failure of the first two Agni launches.

Nothing to be discouraged! We have

postponed it again because we want

to be absolutely certain!

Plate 21 Many a slip between the cup andthe lip... .

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Plate 22 Being carried by a jubilant crowd after the successful launch of Agni.

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Plate 23 Receiving the Bharat Ratna from President KR Narayanan.

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Plate 24 With three Service Chiefs. To my left is Admiral VS Shekhawat, on his right isGeneral BC Joshi, and Air Chief Marshal SK Kaul.

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project Nag (Cobra). I gave the name Agni (Fire) to my long

cherished dream of REX. Dr Arunachalam came to DRDL and formally

launched the IGMDP on 27 July 1983. It was a great event in which

every single employee of DRDL participated. Everybody who was

somebody in Indian Aerospace Research was invited. A large number

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of scientists from other laboratories and organizations, professors fromacademic institutions, representatives of the armed forces, production

centres, and inspection authorities, who were our business partners now,

were present on this occasion. A closed-circuit TV network had to be

pressed into operation to ensure proper communication between the

participants for we had no single place to accommodate all the invitees.

This was the second most significant day in my career, next only to 18

July 1980, when the SLV-3 had launched Rohini into the earths orbit.

* * *

11Stewards

The launch of the IGMDP was like a bright flash on the Indian

scientific firmament. Missile Technology had been considered

the domain of a few selected nations in the world. People

were curious to see how, with what India had at that point of time, we

were going to achieve all that was promised. The magnitude of the

IGMDP was really unprecedented in the country and the schedulesprojected were quite quixotic by the norms and standards prevailing in

the Indian R&D establishments. I was fully aware that obtaining sanction

for the programme could at best be seen as only ten per cent of the

work done. To get it going would be quite a different matter altogether.

The more you have, the more there is to maintain. Now that we had

been given all the necessary money and freedom to proceed, I had to

take my team forward and fulfill the promises I had made.

What would be needed to realise this missile programme, from the

design to the deployment stages? Excellent manpower was available;

money had been sanctioned; and some infrastructure also existed. What

was lacking then? What else does a project need to succeed apart from

these three vital inputs? From my SLV-3 experience, I thought I knew

the answer. The crux was going to be out mastery over missile technology.

I expected nothing from abroad. Technology is a group activity and we

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was clamped, making it impossible for India to buy anything even remotely

connected with the development of guided missiles. The emergence of

India as a self-reliant country in the field of guided missiles upset all the

developed nations of the world.

* * *

14

TORCHBEARERS


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14

TorchbearersIndian core competence in rocketry has been firmly established again,beyond any doubt. The robust civilian space industry and viable missile-

based defences has brought India into the select club of nations that call

themselves superpowers. Always encouraged to follow Buddhas or

Gandhis teachings, how and why did India become a missile power is a

question that needs to be answered for future generations.

Two centuries of subjugation, oppression and denial have failed tokill the creativity and capability of the Indian people. Within just a decade

of gaining independence and achieving sovereignty, Indian Space and

Atomic Energy Programmes were launched with a perfect orientation

towards peaceful applications. There were neither funds for investing in

missile development nor any established requirement from the Armed

Forces. The bitter experiences of 1962 forced us to take the basic first

steps towards missile development.

Would a Prithvi suffice? Would the indigenous development of four

or five missile systems make us sufficiently strong? Or would having

nuclear weapons make us stronger? Missiles and atomic weapons are

merely parts of a greater whole. As I saw it, the development of Prithvi

represented the self-reliance of our country in the field of advanced

technology. High technology is synonymous with huge amounts of money

and massive infrastructure. Neither of these was available, unfortunately,

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In September 1989, I was invited by the Maharashtra Academy of

Sciences in Bombay to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture.

I used this opportunity to share with the budding scientists my plans of

making an indigenous Air-to-Air missile, Astra. It would dovetail with

the development of the Indian Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). I told them

that our work in Imaging Infra Red (IIR) and Millimetric Wave (MMW)radar technology for the Nag missile system had placed us in the

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vanguard of international R&D efforts in missile technology. I also drew

their attention to the crucial role that carbon-carbon and other advanced

composite materials play in mastering the re-entry technology. Agni was

the conclusion of a technological effort that was given its start by Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi when the country decided to break free from the

paralysing fetters of technological backwardness and slough off the dead

skin of subordination to industrialized nations.

The second flight of Prithvi at the end of September 1988 was again

a great success. Prithvi has proved to be the best surface-to-surface

missile in the world today. It can carry 1000 kg of warhead to a distance

of 250 km and deliver it within a radius of 50 metres. Through computer

controlled operations, numerous warhead weight and delivery distance

combinations can be achieved in a very short time and in battlefield

conditions. It is a hundred per cent indigenous in all respectsdesign,

operations, deployment. It can be produced in large numbers as the

production facilities at BDL were concurrently developed during the

development phase itself. The Army was quick to recognize the potential

of this commendable effort and approached the CCPA for placing orders

for Prithvi and Trishul missile systems, something that had never happened

before.

* * *

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IVCONTEMPLATION[ 1991 ]

We create and destroyAnd again recreate

In forms of which no one knows.

AL-WAQUIAH

Quran 56:61

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complexity. When I look back upon what I have narrated so far, my own

observations and conclusions appear as dogmatic utterances. My

colleagues, associates, leaders; the complex science of rocketry; the

important issues of technology management; all seem to have been dealt

with in a perfunctory manner. The despair and happiness, the

achievements and the failuresdiffering markedly in context, time, andspaceall appear grouped together.

When you look down from an aircraft, people, houses, rocks, fields,

I do not wish to set myself up as an example to others, but I believe

that a few readers may draw inspiration and come to experience that

ultimate satisfaction which can only be found in the life of the spirit.

Gods providence is your inheritance. The bloodline of my great-

grandfather Avul, my grandfather Pakir, and my father Jainulabdeen may

end with Abdul Kalam, but His grace will never cease, for it is Eternal.* * *

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y , p p , , , ,

trees, all appear as one homogeneous landscape, it is very difficult to

distinguish one from another. What you have just read is a similar birds-

eye view of my life seen, as it were, from afar.

My worthiness is all my doubt

His merit all my fear

Contrasting which my quality

Does however appear.

This is the story of the period ending with the first Agni launchlife

will go on. This great country will make enormous strides in all fields if

we think like a united nation of 900 million people. My storythe story

of the son of Jainulabdeen, who lived for over a hundred years on Mosque

Street in Rameswaram island and died there; the story of a lad who sold

newspapers to help his brother; the story of a pupil reared bySivasubramania Iyer and Iyadurai Solomon; the story of a student taught

by teachers like Pandalai; the story of an engineer spotted by MGK

Menon and groomed by the legendary Prof. Sarabhai; the story of a

scientist tested by failures and setbacks; the story of a leader supported

by a large team of brilliant and dedicated professionals. This story will

end with me, for I have no belongings in the worldly sense. I have acquired

nothing, built nothing, possess nothingno family, sons, daughters.

I am a well in this great land

Looking at its millions of boys and girls

To draw from me

The inexhaustible divinity

And spread His grace everywhere

As does the water drawn from a well.

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Epilogue

earnestly hope and pray that the development resulting from these two

plansSelf Reliance Mission and Technology Vision 2020will

eventually make our country strong and prosperous and take our rightful

place among the ranks of the developed nations.

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p gThis book is interwoven with my deep involvement with Indias first

Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3 and Agni Programmes, an involvement

which eventually led to my participation in the recent important national

event related to the nuclear tests in May, 1998. I have had the great

opportunity and honour of working with three scientific establishmentsSpace, Defence Research and Atomic Energy. I found, while working in

these establishments, that the best of human beings and the best of

innovative minds were available in plenty. One feature common to all

three establishments, is that the scientists and technologists were never

afraid of failures during their missions. Failures contain within themselves

the seeds of further learning which can lead to better technology, and

eventually, to a high level of success. These people were also great

dreamers and their dreams finally culminated in spectacular achievements.I feel that if we consider the combined technological strength of all these

scientific institutions, it would certainly be comparable to the best found

anywhere in the world. Above all, I have had the opportunity of working

with the great visionaries of the nation, namely Prof. Vikram Sarabhai,

Prof. Satish Dhawan and Dr Brahm Prakash, each of whom have greatly

enriched my life.

A nation needs both economic prosperity and strong security for growthand development. Our Self Reliance Mission in Defence System 1995

2005 will provide the Armed Forces with a state-of-the-art competitive

weapons system. The Technology Vision 2020 plan will put into place

certain schemes and plans for the economic growth and prosperity of the

nation. These two plans have evolved out of the nations dreams. I

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wings of fire by abdul kalam (1)

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